


tangled, mullet style

by halfjackets



Series: klance month 2018 [2]
Category: Tangled (2010), Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Tangled (2010) Fusion, I See The Light (Tangled Song), Klance Month 2018, M/M, Mentions of Blood, Tangled AU, True Love, film week, keith is rapunzel, lance is eugene
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-15
Updated: 2018-09-15
Packaged: 2019-07-12 14:55:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,409
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15997574
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/halfjackets/pseuds/halfjackets
Summary: A series of events in which a thief on the run finds the love of his life in a most unexpected place—the isolated tower in the woods.





	tangled, mullet style

**Author's Note:**

> here’s my second entry for klance month :)) this one’s a tangled au for film week, i mean lance is pike who is a thief and keith has long ass hair so i couldn’t resist writing this. instead of a proper story, i’ve decided to write snippets of the whole movie in klance version so hope you guys enjoy this one.

“Faster Kaltenecker, faster!”

A young brunette, a palace horse and a torn satchel crossed the forest that afternoon. Pike had many, many problems, including the issue that he was being chased by two very angry lesbian thugs. It wasn’t the first time he’d decided to betray his partners-in-crime for his own benefit, but now that he looked at the situation, Ezor and Zethrid were more than that. When he’d first met them a month ago, the trio had ventured on a quest to capture the Marmoran Luxite Blade, a valuable family heirloom. Once they’d completed the task, they took to the woods, and intended to stay there until the guards had stopped pursuing them. Exit and Zethrid played a big part in the heist, standing guard and planning an escape route as Pike manipulated the locks leading to the blade one by one. It had taken forever, but it was worth it. They’d arrived in the forest merely a day ago, yet Pike had outsmarted both of them at once. Within minutes of reaching the woods, he’d plucked the blade from Ezor’s belt, stuffed it into his own satchel, and lost them in the trees. Of course, criminal instinct told Ezor and Zethrid that he’d double-crossed them, resulting in the wild goose chase that led him to this clearing in the woods. It was a little away from the jungle of trees, and snagging a palace horse that had been looking out for them made the run much more efficient. Alas, Pike could be alone with his satchel and his blade.

He dismounted Kaltenecker upon reaching a cluster of bushes, tying the horse to a tree near the forest and taking cover in the ivy. He found a comfortable spot to sit on, and produced the Luxite Blade. It was pretty, silver with purple accents that glowed. The Marmoran crest beamed at the handle. Legend had it that the blade could be activated by members of the royal family, and would transform into a sword. He could see why it meant so much to the kingdom.

“There’s the horse! He must be nearby!” Pike heard Zethrid’s deep voice yell. Footsteps drew nearer. Yikes.

I have to hide, he thought. He glanced frantically through the spaces in the ivy, changing his angle of sight. A short distance away, he could see a stone tower covered in moss and creepers. It seemed to have no ladder up or down, and it was most probably deserted too. A perfect hiding spot. He made sure Ezor and Zethrid weren’t in sight, before making his way as quietly as possible towards the tower, shielding himself with more nearby bushes. He arrived at the foot of the tower, and ensuring that the satchel was secure, he began to ascend the tower, clutching onto the brambles and branches that wrapper around the tower. Surprisingly, they were able to hold his weight, and he managed to haul himself into the tiny window at the top. He jumped into the tower, satchel flying off his shoulder and landing a metre away. He pulled the curtains close—for some reason they weren’t rotted or tattered at all—and sank against the wall. He sighed deeply. Safe at last.

He surveyed his surroundings.

It didn’t look at all like the tower was abandoned or neglected. The stone floor was spotless and covered in a plush red carpet, succulents and sheets of paper dotting the circular room. To the corner of the room, there was a bed, it’s sheets newly washed and silky. The ceiling and walls were painted all sorts of colours, reds, yellows, greens, blues, some of which he’d never seen. They were murals of people, animals, flowers, village sceneries, lanterns, which fascinated Pike, for he could never replicate these masterpieces in any possible way ever. Someone had to be living here.

“W-who are you?” Pike whipped around. He was right, someone was living here. Standing there, in the middle of the room, was a young boy about his age, in a gray tee and red and white knee-high boots. His ebony hair was in a high ponytail, and in his pale hands he clutched a large frying-pan. On his shoulder was slung a ruined satchel, namely Pike’s satchel, which had flown off the thief’s shoulder as he jumped into the tower.

“Whoa there Angsty, keep your hair on,” Pike put his hands up before him in defence, just in case the boy decided to use his frying pan. “Maybe you wanna return my satchel?”

Ponytail Boy didn’t move. A blue wolf appeared from the door to the room and ran in front of him.

Pike jumped.

“I would appreciate if you passed me my satchel please. I said please! Also, call your dog to move aside.”

“Kosmo isn’t a dog, he’s a rare cosmic wolf. And how about no?”

“Fine then. What am I supposed to do?”

“Maybe sit down on that chair over there,” Ponytail Boy gestured to the wooden chair at the study desk, “And don’t move after that.”

“And then you’ll give me back my satchel?”

“Maybe.”

Pike sighed. He was left with no choice. He backed into the chair and sat down, hands still in front of him.

“Hands behind your back.”

Pike obeyed.

Ponytail Boy slotted the frying pan under his arm, and produced a rope. Pike scoffed.

“You’re gonna bind me to the chair? Need help with the rope?” he teased, watching as the boy and his wolf bent down behind the wooden chair. “You sure you won’t tie a ribbon instead of a—”

“Done,” the boy said triumphantly, coming round front and smiling maliciously. Kosmo the wolf seemed to don a similar expression, which is curious for a canine. Pike tried to move his hands, to no avail. He groaned, this guy was good.

“Now tell me, who are you? I have your satchel right here,” Ponytail Boy tossed the satchel containing the blade into the air, watching as Pike gaped.

“Stop that! It’s mine!” Pike almost shrieked, only for the boy to raise his frying pan again. The wolf growled.

“Fine! I’ll tell you! My name is Pike Serrano. Now can you please give me the satchel?”

“I heard you the first time. Tell me why you’re here.”

“Wait, I didn’t get your name! If i’m going to be interrogated, I should at least know your name in exchange. And why’re you here?”

Ponytail Boy frowned.

“I’ll tell you, but you have to answer the rest of my questions truthfully,” the boy took a step towards Pike, brandishing the kitchen tool. “Understand?”

Pike nodded solemnly. His eyes sparkled with inquisition.

“My name is Keith, and I’ve been in this tower my whole life.”

 

So it turns out Keith had been living in the tower for his life’s entirety.

Pike managed to draw some information about Keith in exchange for notes about his own life and mission. Keith had told him that when he was a child, his adoptive mother, Mother Haggar had taken him away to this tower, saying it was to keep him safe from the cruel world outside. Mother was always nice to him, and bought him music sheets and fresh fruits and special paints and brushes to liven up the originally dull room. He didn’t mind the tower, it was spacious enough to play and dance and make artistic endeavours, but the one with he had was to visit the village. Keith told Pike that every year on his birthday, purple floating lanterns would be released into the sky.

“Somehow, I feel that they’re meant for me,” Keith said dreamily, staring out of the window into the deep blue sky. Pike laughed at his level of ambition.

“I know! If you take me to see the floating lights, I’ll give you back your satchel,” Keith grinned, spreading his arms wide. “You in?”

“I thought we agreed I’d give you an insight to my life and then you’d return my satchel,” Pike nearly whined. Why was this boy so difficult?

“I never said that. Besides, my birthday is tomorrow! You could fulfil my lifelong dream!”

“What would Mother Hugger—”

“ _Haggar_.”

“—Mother Haggar say?”

Keith smirked. “She’s away for a day to help me purchase some glow-in-the-dark paints I requested. We could get back before tomorrow night, and she wouldn’t have a clue.”

Pike was in a dilemma. This is cost him the time he could get a high price in the black market for the Luxite Blade, especially since the Lantern Festival was the next day. But then again, there wouldn’t be a blade to sell if he didn’t get it from Ponytail Boy. He considered his options.

“Fine. But we return you back to this tower by tomorrow, and I get my satchel. Deal?”

“Deal.”

 

“Holy shit!” Pike screamed, as he dived into the pitch black darkness. Pike and Keith, who had insisted Kosmo tag along had escaped the tower, only to be found in their attempt by not just Ezor and Zethrid, but also several members of the royal guard, who were after Pike’s head. They’d taken to a pub, and Keith had managed to persuade on of the pub-goers to show them out via a secret passageway, allowing them to find refuge in a cave. However, it turns out they were spotting leaving, and now they were running from their pursuers once again.

There was a dam separating Pike, Keith and Kosmo from safety from the guards and the thugs. Fortunately for the trio, Keith had been clever enough to pack along the same rope he’d used to tie Pike up, and swung them across the dam. Unfortunately, the dam had broken, seeing to it that it was no longer sturdy after countless years of no maintenance. They’d hidden in another cavern, only for the water to rush in. They were trapped.

“It’s too dark down there, I can’t see anything,” Pike flailed around hopelessly, before diving into the water again. The light into the cavern had been shut out by the flowing water, and the other side of the cavern had been a dead end. Kosmo was struggling to keep afloat, and Keith had backed into a wall, almost too shocked to say anything.

“Ah!” Keith heard Pike interject as he resurfaced. Keith looked over. His right palm was bleeding; a deep gash ran down the middle. “I was trying to remove a rock,” Pike explained.

The water continued to rise at a frightening pace. If they didn’t find their way out within the next too minutes, they might not live to see the sunlight ever again.

“Pike!” Keith grabbed Pike’s hand as he came up from the water. “There’s no way we can get out,” he whispered, feeling helpless. Kosmo whined. “There has to be a way. There’s always— Ow!” Pike balled his injured hand up into a fist, his other hand wrapped around the first, trying to stop the bleeding.

“Pike,” Keith placed his own hands on Pike’s watching as the water rose to their chests.

“Lance.”

“What?” Keith was puzzled.

“My real name, it’s Lance McClain. Someone else might know,” Pike said softly, looking into Keith’s eyes. Kosmo nuzzled against Keith, shivering as Keith caressed his fur.

“I-I have magic hair that glows white when I sing,” Keith said all of a sudden, running a cold palm through his raven head.

“What?” Pike—Lance asked, eyes widening. It was all coming together now.

“I have magic hair that glows when I sing!” Keith exclaimed. They could use its light to guide them to escape! The water level was dangerous, it had risen to their jaws.

“Magic hair please glow, let your power show,” Keith managed to choke out before they were entirely engulfed in the water.

For a moment, the three remained in the cavern, cold and weary. And then a miracle happened. Keith’s hair began to transform from its matte black into a pure white, every strand illuminated by a special magical force. Lance gasped, realising two seconds later that he was in the water and he wouldn’t be able to live if he didn’t close his mouth. The light emitted was so powerful, it lit the entire cavern of aqua.

Lance spotted a few loose rocks in a corner, and quickly propelled himself towards them, hands grappling to remove them and find themselves a way out. Keith and Kosmo came to join him.

Within a minute, the trio burst out into the other side of the cavern, spluttering and gasping for fresh air. They cried out in joy for the beauty of being alive and safe, and happy.

 

Keith couldn’t believe his eyes.

The village was a melting pot of different cultures and colours, and the atmosphere was so vibrant. He’d never seen anything like it.

“You mean you’ve never seen anything like this?” Lance asked, ruffling Keith’s hair with his healed palm. His hair had become the same pitch black it had been before once they’d fallen through the cave wall into daylight once again, and Keith revealed that if he were to sing once again, his hair would be able to heal Lance’s palm. Keith giggled shyly.

“Like I said, I spent my whole life in a tower. The only colour I’ve seen is the paint Mother Haggar has bought me, and the flowers at the foot of the tower. This is so new to me.”

“Well, what’re you waiting for? There’s still time before the lantern festival begins, why don’t we explore?” Lance grabbed Keith’s had excitedly, pulling him towards the streets of brilliant Marmora.

They’d tried different festival delicacies, including cookies made in the shape of the royal family heirloom. Kosmo picked up the crumbs on the ground, nibbling them slowly. Children were playing with sparklers, and some offered to braid and put flowers in Keith’s hair. Keith wouldn’t stop smiling as Lance watched the kids put daisies and camellias into the tangled knots, and pull his usually ruined, mussed-up hair into a loose braid that ended at the bottom of his neck.

“How do I look?” Keith beamed at Lance as the children behind him followed suit.

“Absolutely perfect.” Lance held Keith’s face in his hands and squished his cheeks. The kids clapped in approval and went up to hug the pair.

A dance was starting in the town square, and Lance couldn’t resist dragging an embarrassed Keith to sway along to the music. The cosmic wolf trotted around them, almost gleeful.

“Ow! Hey man, careful,” Lance uttered as Keith accidentally squashed his toes for the fifth time. “I told you I sucked at dancing,” Keith poured, warning a chuckle and a poke from the thief.

Upon Keith’s request, Lance left to purchase lanterns that they would release into the sky for the festival later on, leaving Keith to ponder a mosaic mural that had been created in honour of the royal family. It depicted a picture of the king, Texas, and his wife, Queen Krolia. In her arms was their long-lost son, who had the same shade of dark hair as Keith as well as the same deep violet hue. They looked almost like twins.

“Hey Braid Boy! You wanna go get a boat or not!” Lance stood a little way back, holding up the lovely lantern for Keith to see. Keith forgot the mural immediately and ran into Lance’s embrace, thanking him profusely for the lantern and the trip in general.

Lance felt warm inside.

 

“And this is how you let it float,” Lance placed his hands under Keith’s, which held the lantern. He gently brought it upwards, allowing the sky to receive it. The lantern rose into the starry sky, joining the millions of others that took to the air.

“Wow…” Keith gaped, staring at the beauty of the lit object. “I never knew it could be so beautiful.”

The pair, together with Kosmo, were indulging in the silence and calm of the lake on a wooden boat, which Lance had borrowed from the dock. Or at least they had been, until Keith had begun to sing a folk song, so common. Yet the way the smaller boy sang it made it much more magical then the usual choir did.

“And at last I see the light,” Keith chorused, entirely in his element. Lance found this so dorky, for he’d never seen anyone who could sing so freely in front of others in his life. God, he wanted to join in. This boy was different.

“And it’s warm and real and bright,” Keith took Lance’s hands in his, blushing slightly.

“And the world has somehow shifted,” Lance continued, lacing his fingers with Keith’s paler ones.

“All at once, everything is different,” they sang together, Kosmo whining softly.

“Now that I see _you_ …”

 

Keith wept, hot tears running down his pale cheeks. Mother Haggar has been right all along; he shouldn’t have spoken to strangers. The world outside truly was cruel.

He was back in the stone tower, sitting in front of Mother Haggar as she removed the blossoms the children had weaves into his locks.

“And that’s the last one,” she told him before using a brush to smooth the braid out, returning it to its plain mullet state.

“I’m sorry Mother!” He spun around and into Mother Haggar’s arms. He cried into his shoulder, remorseful for leaving the tower in the first place.

Right after they’d gotten to land, Keith had given Lance the satchel as his side of the deal, and Lance agreed to get some firewood to warm them both up. He’s left Keith on his own by the lake, only for him to be ambushed by Ezor and Zethrid, who wanted to use Keith as bait to bring Lance back with the satchel. Mother Haggar has apeared begins them, using her frying-pan to knock them out. She brought Keith to another side of the lake, and revealed to him the Lance was on a boat across the water, together with the satchel and its blade. In other words, he’d betrayed Keith.

“Shh, hush child. I’ve told you before, Mother knows best,” she stroked Keith’s locks, holding him close. This was going all too well.

 

Lance fled from the prison on Kaltenecker the horse, desperate to reach the stone tower in the wood. The thugs from the pub, namely three named Hunk, Shiro and Pidge, has helped him escape from the royal dungeons. He kicked Kaltenecker’s black and white flank, trying to increase their speed.

After Keith had passed him the satchel the day before, he had been on the way to collect wood, but he was attacked by Ezor and Zethrid alike, behind them stood Mother Haggar, Keith’s adoptive mother. He realised that she’d sent them to capture both Keith and the heirloom, and they had taken the knife from him, strapped him to the mast of a boat, hands tied to the wheel, and set him sail across the lake, straight toward the palace docks. There, the royal guards had taken over and locked him up. Lucky for him, the thugs from the pub had come to break him out, for they knew they meant well for Keith, and came to free him upon hearing of his predicament.

The mossy stone tower could be seen in the distance, and he prepared himself from what he would experience up through its window. Would Keith forgive him?

He couldn’t be too late.

Propelling himself through the hole in the stone for the second time, Lance was greeted by a blow to the head, a muffled scream heard in the corner.

Whatever happened in the next ten minutes was a mystery to him.

 

When he came to, his limbs were restrained by metal chains, his vision blurry.

“Mmmph!” Lance’s head shot up to find Keith, eyes wide and teary, screaming into a gag. Keith had been tied to a chair, the same chair that he’d sat in the first time they’d met. There was a cloth covering his mouth loosely, preventing him from talking. Kosmo was locked in a cage by the door, tail between his legs.

“Pike Serrano. Infamous criminal. Never thought we’d meet the boy my son loved so much.”

Lance spun around to come face to face with Mother Haggar, eyes having the same malicious gleam as her adoptive son’s. Keith managed to remove his gag by shaking his head wildly.

“I still love him, and you can’t stop me!”

Mother Haggar looked thoughtful. “Maybe, if I did this? After all, a thief can’t steal if his arms are weak,” she said as produced the Marmoran Luxite Blade, the same one Lance had stolen, and dragged it’s sharp surface across Lance’s arms, cackling is she drew bright red blood.

Lance screamed in agony.

“Please Mother!” Keith cried. “Stop! Let me heal him!”

“Then you’ll leave with me?”

Keith was crying. Lance was in pain, and this would be the only way. He wouldn’t see the lanterns, or the village, or the paintings he’d created ever again. But it was for the boy he loved and who had changed his life, and he would do anything for Lance McClain.

“I promise,” he stared defiantly into Mother Haggar’s eyes. Without a word, she strode over and slashed his bonds. He scrambled to the thief, who was groaning and doubling over. His jackets had been stained crimson, and he was coughing and sputtering.

“Lance,” Keith kneeled down beside the bleeding boy, placing his head adjacent to both arms.

“Keith,” Lance pushed Keith off of him. “I’m okay. Don’t do it. Don’t go with her. Go live your own life.”

“It’s not life without you. You showed me what life really is,” Keith pleaded with Lance, repositioning his head.

“Keith, I’ll be fine,” Lance insisted. But Keith refused to budge, starting to choked out a song in order to get his hair to glow and heal.

Lance had no choice.

“Keith, I love you,” he smiled softly. “And I’m sorry.”

“For what?” But before Keith could get answer, Lance had grabbed a nearby shard of mirror glass, broken when Mother Haggar smashed a mirror trying to bind Keith to the chair. He chopped off the base of Keith’s mullet, causing all of his glowing hair to turn ebony once more.

“No!” Mother Haggar and Keith screamed at the same time. Keith had told Lance that for a cut made to a lock of hair on his head would remove its healing and glowing ability, and only once it grew back to its original length at the base of his neck would its properties return. But what they hadn’t known was that every cut made would age Mother Haggar by a few year, for she had connected her life force to the source of power that allowed Keith to have glowing hair—a life force called Quintessence. Basically, by cutting off the ends of so many hairs at once aged her almost a century or more, causing her to age at an extreme rate. Keith wouldn’t be able to heal Lance, and Mother Haggar wouldn’t be able to continue living. She shrieked like an animal a she stumbled around, trying to keep her life intact. As she did so, Kosmo had managed to escape his cage, butting straight into Mother Haggar and sending her dusty form flailing as she fell through the window.

It was over.

Keith sobbed over Lance’s unconscious form, cold and still. He’d given Keith so much to live for, a new insight into the world outside, and he’d finally found a friend and a lover Alas, he was gone and lost forever. He shuddered uncontrollably, letting a single tear fall to the thief’s cheek. Kosmo joined him, lowering his head in solemnity.

What happened next could’ve move mountains. The tear glowed a pure white and lilac, and somehow within seconds, Lance’s opened flirted open. Keith couldn’t believe his eyes.

“What happened?”

 

So it happens that not only did Keith’s hair contain the properties of Quintessence, for his tears did as well. This phenomenon had brought Lance back to life, which both Keith and Kosmo were overly grateful for.

As of the one week following Mother Haggar’s demise, Keith and Lance had returned to the village; Lance wanted to return the Luxite Blade. The king and queen were very forgiving, and decided to lighten Lance’s sentence from several years to just one. He would spend the rest of the week with Keith, before serving his term.

The king and queen were also able to meet Keith. It was uncanny, how he looked so similar to their lost son, until they realised—when he explained the properties of his magical hair and tears—that he was. Queen Krolia told Keith that when he was a baby, he’d fallen so ill that they had to get an alchemist to heal him. They used a magical force called Quintessence to do so, causing his hair to gain healing and glowing abilities. When he was two, he was stolen from the palace, and went missing ever since. Every twenty-third of October—Keith’s birthday—they would release floating lanterns into the sky, hoping it would guide their missing son home. It had, and now Keith was well and truly here.

It was settled that Keith would move in with the royal family. Keith also persuaded his biological parents to abdicate Lance’s sentence, seeing to it that he had saved Keith so many times that his thievery wouldn’t match up to it. They’d taken some time to think, but they’d eventually agreed.

Life was different now that Keith lived in the castle. He’d been crowned prince, and when he held the Luxite blade, it did activate to become a sword, which the king and queen were pleased to see. Lance had a separate room in the castle upon Keith’s request, and after constant bothering, Keith had obliged to Lance’s asking him out. They continued to date for two years, until it was finally time. No one could say this wouldn’t happen, for it definitely would even if it was later on in their lives, Keith still was pleasantly surprised when Lance popped the question. He’d gone down on one knee, a petite ring box in his hand, smiling radiantly and widely.

“Keith Kogane, will you marry me?”

Of course Keith had said yes, how could he have not?

 

Besides, everyone deserves a happy ending.

**Author's Note:**

> thank you for your kudos !  
> i cant believe i’m still following this challenge,, younger shittier me would’ve given up hehe  
> alrighty, hope you liked this once :))  
> follow my tumblr [@halfjackets](https://halfjackets.tumblr.com) \+ my twitter [@halfjackets](www.twitter.com/halfjackets) \+ my instagram [@cruelprinces](www.instagram.com/cruelprinces)


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